Black String Of Fate
by riran
Summary: Kagome is a hanyou who lives for revenge. Sesshoumaru is a Dai youkai who hunger for power. In the world where the darkness and dreams collided, they are bound by the black string of fate. Warnings: Dark fic, extreme graphic violence, and other adult contents.
1. The Death

Disclaimer : I do not own Inuyasha, except for Tokushin and Kuroichi I do own them.

Warnings: Dark fic, OOC Kagome, adult content, graphic [extreme] violence. Bad Grammar.

Author's note: There are compelling reasons for Kagome's behaviour in this story, but her true nature will come out in mid-story. I can't say anything else other than 'this story will unfold through the later chapters'.

Makaze: Evil Wind

Akaiittou: Red Blade

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The sun was at the top of the head, the wind blowing harder than usual. In the forest path traversed by Sesshoumaru, not the song of birds is heard by him, but the angry growl, and obscenities. Sesshoumaru was in his wanderings when he heard the sound of clashing swords, a moment later the smell of rusty, tangy and the sweetness of the blood hit his nostrils.

It was enough to arouse his curiosity to the surface. A hanyou woman with long black hair tied in a high ponytail wore a mid-thigh blue kimono with red floral motif and white obi embrace her curvy body is fighting in the meadow with silver-haired Ookami. Sesshoumaru recognized him as Kuroichi Lord of the Eastern land, his rival in expanding region.

Sesshoumaru stop under a tree, he suppresses his demonic aura and focuses on their fight. The smell of blood that pierced his sense of smell was coming from the hanyou woman who was injured by Kuroichi's sword. Blood flowing from her limp arm, she's weak now. Surprisingly, there is no fear that is reflected from her beautiful face, only a sadistic grin adorning it.

 _She enjoyed the fight_ , Sesshoumaru's thought. Unwittingly both corners of his mouth slightly raised, before back to his emotionless mask.

Somehow the woman who will die by Kuroichi has attracted his attention. He had never seen a woman fight like that, she fought like a no-load. Even though her opponent is a Dai youkai whom known for his ferocity when destroying all of his opponents. Kuroichi never knew defeated or balance result in a battle, there is only the victory in his dictionary. He will never hesitate to kill his opponent, therefore he is known as 'The Ruthless from Eastern'.

"Don't make me repeat the question again, you stupid old wolf," she said harshly on the sidelines of their sword fights "Do you know a miko named Kikyo?" a bit bitterness infiltrating her heart when she vocalizes the name. Kagome's chest rise and fall, the fight was so exhausting even for a hanyou like her.

"She is a whore, isn't she?" He asked with a challenging smile.

"Your answer is wrong," she swung her red sword, Kuroichi didn't have any time to dodge.

His armor in the shoulder destroyed by her sword. Kagome almost managed to decapitate his head. Kuroichi's dangerous growl out of his chest, his eyes narrowed for a moment but then he laughed. His laughter echoed and it only makes her more disgusted.

"You can't hurt me hanyou" he said, followed by scornful laughter.

"Tch, you're too quick to think that you can beat me, you old fucking wolf!" Kagome's claws smeared with blood that flows from her injured arm, then she threw it towards Kuroichi.

The Dai youkai did not expect the arrival of the next blow, the attack makes him rooted to the spot and he couldn't dodge. Youki flows through Kagome's bloods, then the drops of blood droplets turn into hundreds of blades fly aiming him, the attack was succeeded in wrenching the whole body of Kuroichi.

"Why males are always created with a higher ego, I really hate it! They always looked at women as inferior to them, " she shouted, her voice quivering with emotions. "You're going to die in my hand, idiot. In the hands of a woman!" Kagome's voice full of promise to make it happen.

Her words made his blood boil, then he attacked Kagome blindly. He swung his sword randomly, no matter which part of his enemy's body exposed to the attacks. The female hanyou dodges when Kuroichi is swinging his sword toward her head, she jumped backward only to retreat again when Kuroichi continues to move forward. His sword easily destroys anything touched by it, large trees around them, even a small hill can be easily crushed to pieces by Akaiittou. One step back for Kagome is a step forward for Kuroichi, he attacks constantly. His pride is at stake and he would not die by a lowly Hanyou, let alone a woman Hanyou!

Sesshoumaru not completely hide, he could see them clearly, but they are filled with a strong desire to kill so they aren't aware of his existence at all. Akaiittou is one of the powerful swords, it was made from the claws of Kuroichi's ancestors. On the other hand, the hanyou's sword is Makaze. Makaze is the sword that had been owned by Tokushin, the Lord of the Northern land who reportedly had been killed.

It is easy for Sesshoumaru to deduce what had happened, the hanyou had killed Tokushin. That means his task would be so much easier, the obligation to fulfill his ambition to control the whole territory of Japan. After the refrain for some time, finally, Sesshoumaru can't stand to the ridiculous agreement which his father made to the Lords of other regions. Why are there so many rulers if indeed he was the strongest? The agreement was condescending him.

After the death of Tokushin there's only the Lord of the East and Southern left as a barrier between Sesshoumaru and the infinite power but, what had happened didn't make him entirely happy. Just by thinking of his duties carried out by a Hanyou would be very bothering him and the most annoying fact is that the Hanyou is a female. Her actions made him distracted, what actually she wanted to accomplish? The woman will tarnish his conquest of the other rulers. The creatures that he always despises, a hanyou, now creeping into his mind and instantly made him feel the thirst of curiosity about her.

Did she kill Tokushin? Certainly she who had killed him, the absolute fact is the Makaze in her hand. First of all, she killed Tokushin, now she's trying to kill Kuroichi, then what is her purpose to kill the lord of the region? If so, then she would come to him. At that time, he would be more than happy to sentence her to death. Only for half a second, Sesshoumaru lifted one corner of his mouth slightly.

 _Maybe he can beat Tokushin but he will not vanquish Kuroichi, let alone this Sesshoumaru_. He thought.

Kagome cornered this time, behind her is towering cliffs. She can no longer shy away from Kuroichi's sword, their swords clashed. Both of the swords vibrated because withstand the strength of each opponent. Kagome half bending her knees, she pushed her sword against his opponent's sword. Slowly she pushed him back after she takes a deep inhaled of air to fill her lung. Her youki power flows through her sword, the black light explosion appeared from Makaze.

As a reply, Kuroichi's youki also flowed through Akaiittou, the red blinding light swirling from his sword. The two demonic powers collide, produce a powerful explosion when they throw their attack. A huge explosion dragged them both tens of meters rearward, their body rolling on the ground like a lifeless doll. Both of their swords flew high in the air before falling to the ground, helpless, each broken into two pieces.

Makaze and Akaiittou are the swords that inherit the power of hereditary ancestors. The strength of each sword almost equivalent, but the attack that comes out of the sword also depends on how much youki of the youkai who wields it. In this case, it seems the power of Kuroichi and Kagome were even.

After being hit by the blast, Kagome forced herself to stand up immediately. But her knees contrary to her wishes, she fell again to the dirt. She's weakened. The blood was still pouring from the incision all over her body, the effect of the explosion. But her determination is stronger than anything in her way, she rose again and attacked Kuroichi with her weapons that still remaining. The most dangerous part of her body, her sharp talons.

She jumped, then tries to land her claws to Kuroichi's body, but the Dai youkai could manage to avoid before her deadly claws tore him into three parts. The claws wrecking the ground with a loud thud. Fragments of stones and soil scattered out all of the directions.

"I'm going to kill you bastard, that's for sure!" two threatening fangs came into sight from her grin, Kagome's eyes glinting by the desire to shed the blood of her opponent.

Kuroichi gave a deadly kick to her chest which she can't avoid. His attack made she fell down and kiss the ground. Without wasting time she rolled over and got up then turn to give another attack with her talons to the Lord of the Eastern. This time, deliberately Kuroichi didn't shy away. Before Kagome's dangerous claws can scratch the body of Kuroichi, he caught her right wrist easily. Then with his left hand, he attacked her injured left arm.

She gasped, Kagome didn't expect Kuroichi's action. Unfortunately, her injured left hand can't be moved at all. Kuroichi's greenish talons rip her flesh, layer by layer, try to break the bones, and separates it from Kagome's body. Their hands crossed, threatening growl come out from their mouths.

"With great pleasure I'll be tearing your damn mouth," he laughed triumphantly "Whore's mouth is more useful than yours" his voice darken.

She laughed at Kuroichi's words, one corner of her mouth lifted in a wry smile. Kagome's face more pale because of the pain that invaded her, but she still compels herself to look strong in the eyes of her opponent. "I'll show you the usefulness of my mouth"

Kuroichi's stranglehold on Kagome's left arm has been released, with his left hand, he's ready to tear her head into pieces. But Kuroichi defeated, he was slower than her. She dodges, then she catches Kuroichi's left hand with her injured one. At the same time, she lifted her right arm, then bites Kuroichi's right hand which gripping her right wrist. She was shaking her head strongly, tries to tear his flesh.

Kuroichi roared loudly, he gave her a deadly gaze. Kuroichi twisted his wrist so his left-hand could creep back into Kagome's injured arm. Again, his poisonous talons pierced her flesh, much more powerful this time. She closed her eyes, withstand extreme pain. Kuroichi is also trying to separate the injured arm from her body, each of them struggling with the extreme pain that they feel.

The red liquid oozed down to her jaw and neck, Kagome's fangs penetrating the flesh, the veins, and pierced to the deeper layers of muscles. Misfortunes clinging to Kuroichi, Kagome's the first could shred the flesh. She could feel the bones meet with her sharp fangs. With one more force given by her, bones creak can be heard by them. His wrist bones were broken and then separated from the body of Kuroichi.

"AAARRGGHH!" heartbreaking cries comes out from the Lord of the Eastern's mouth. Blood spurted in all directions. Kuroichi's eyes widened, he looked at his severed right arm. The red liquid, viscous, and warm still kept flowing from it. Splashes of blood wetting Kagome's face, she staggered backward. Kuroichi's growled becomes louder.

Then several things happened simultaneously. Kagome throws the enemy's hand out of her mouth, she spits, trying to dispel the taste of Kuroichi's blood that still enveloped her mouth. At the same time, Kuroichi releasing his grip on Kagome's left hand, then his poisonous claw which covered by the hanyou's blood glows much brighter with a greenish tint.

The more his hand is glowing, the more toxins are gathered. The phosphorescence poison was growing stronger just before the claws breaking through Kagome's chest in the blink of an eye. The youkai's hand had pierced her stomach and then moving up to the middle of her chest, creating a loud sound of torn flesh and broken ribs.

"Ugh!"no screams were heard from her, Kagome spewing a plume of fresh blood from her mouth into Kuroichi's face, hair, and his clothes.

The beautiful silver hair and silk kimono that he wore tainted by her blood, he laughs among his short breath. "Even with one hand, I could beat you lowly Hanyou!" He said angrily, his eyes glinting with fury and hatred to the Hanyou who succeeded cut his hand. It will take several years before his right arm could regrow.

Her face downcast, Kagome's eyes are hidden by her bangs. The dog ears at the top of her head twitched, a sign that she didn't miss a single word that Kuroichi had said.

"Look at my eyes!" Kuroichi's command "See my eyes when you're dying! Plead for a quick death, maybe I'll be kind to you bitch!" his voice is heavy with the emphasis on every word.

 _This is the time for me, but I would not die here, not without my revenge!_ Kagome's thought.

Under the strong determination, she raised her right hand. With all of her remaining strength, she used her sharp talons to tear her opponent's neck with one quick swing. Kuroichi's head rolling under her feet while his body was still upright standing in front of her. By disgust and hatred, she kicks the head to stay away from her.

"No!" Kagome's voice cracking. she tried to laugh, but only moans in pain left her mouth. She was tormented by the tremendous pain. Kagome's breath is panting "I couldn't look into your eyes when your head lying on the ground, y-you damn wolf!" the words haltingly out of her mouth.

Her face creased in the middle, the pain in her stomach started to spread. She cut off Kuroichi's left hand apart from the arm, making his body collapsed on the dirt. Crimson blood flooded around her, her breath getting panted as the pain increasing.

"Dammit!" she spits again, the taste of her enemy's blood still lingers in her mouth and she hates it so much. Kuroichi's left hand still break through her chest. She was preparing herself for the extreme pain when she pulled the hand out of her chest. She closed her eyes, she did not want to see the process in order to prevent an excessive pain to be sent to her brain when she saw what she did.

"AARGH!" her cries echoed in the forest when she pulled the hand quickly out of her chest then throw it away.

What has happened is beyond his estimates. Sesshomaru's brow furrowed, he approached the dying hanyou and exudes his aura. The stench of the death raids his nostril, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he watched the pieces of flesh lying on the ground. A Dai youkai, the Lord of the Eastern Land has died in the hands of a woman. _Very pathetic!_ He thought.

Sesshoumaru looked at her with a cold stare, she was also enveloped by the smell of death. Toxins of the Lord of the Eastern blood line are the strongest after him. Now the venom sizzling in the woman's abdomen and arms. Slowly makes her flesh, organs, bones, and anything it touches melted. She is going to die.

Her legs limp, Kagome fell down when the pain increased. She dragged herself to lean against a tree trunk not far behind. The pain was whipped up all of her body in every gesture she made. Kagome glanced into her stomach, not only blood flowing, but the yellow-green liquid and something like white foam now decorates a gaping hole in her stomach.

Unusually, the wound was not healing quickly, "Fuck!" she cursed. The hanyou managed to reach the tree trunk, then leaned back. Kagome closed her eyes just before she felt a strong demonic aura of another youkai approached her. Whoever it was, the youki is very strong. _It seems Kuroichi bring an ally, he reneged on the agreement to deal with me alone. Coward bastard!_ She cursed mentally.

Previously, she thought that Kuroichi is the strongest youkai she had ever met, but it turns out that she was wrong. The mysterious figure walked closer, now the demonic aura owner stands in front of her. She opens her eyes then looked up, the youkai not to lose the least grace as he stood among the pieces of scattered bodies and pooled of blood. Her vision began to blur, either because she is in pain, or because she is dying!

The figure who stood a few feet away from her was dominated by white. He is so tall and graceful. He looks very lethal from the overall appearance and from the strong demonic aura that emanated from him. Despite the blurred visions, she could see two golden eyes, magenta lines on both cheeks, and a violet crescent mark on his forehead. One of the signs stating that he is one of the Dai youkai. In other words, he is one of the Lord of the land.

The four lords of the region of Japan had some similarities, marks on their face and silver hair that is solely owned by the descendants of the Dai youkai. The appearance of youkai before her and his strong demonic aura are sufficient to establish that he is a youkai who entered criteria as her prey. Unfortunately, it seems she will not be able to finish her missions, Kagome smiled bitterly.

Kagome turns away, then gritted her teeth "What are you waiting for?" She asked rudely "If you want to avenge Kuroichi's death, just do it quickly!" Her voice is shaking. The answers that she was waiting for did not come, the youkai remained silent with his probing eyes.

Kagome leaned her head, she tried desperately to keep breathing although her lungs had started to surrender by the poison of Kuroichi. The hissing sounds came out of the gaping wound in her abdomen. _Dammit! The wound will not heal, the poison is too strong_. she laughed bitterly, as her gaze turns black.

Her breath is getting shorter, the good news is she can still feel the pain, that would mean she's not dead soon. But, the bad news is the death that awaited her would be a very slow and highly painful death. The poison was slowly eating away her body, pulverize her, like a candle that slowly eaten by the fire. She smiled at the thought soon she will meet with her beloved mother, after so many years wandering alone.

"Why are you smiling when the death embraces you?" the youkai asked.

"There's nothing left for me in this world" her voice's not more powerful than a whisper, it took all of her strength to get those words out of her mouth.

Her mission's almost complete, the goal's almost reached. But she was not sure, there's still remaining half of the possibility, the possibility that she hated. If she was wrong, of course, she will not die peacefully, she will not be able to meet her mother with a smile. She can't die right now, there are still the other enemies should be pursued. She can't, not until she's absolutely sure had killed the bastard.

 _I must live!_ Her thought.

Her heart beats faster when the poison was spreading through her heart, groans full of pain tucked away from her lips because the extreme pain that assaulted her. When she wants to live, that's when she's dying. There is no joke that Kami-sama prepared for her crueler than this. She growled, there are no more words coming out of her mouth when she shrouded by the pain that she had never felt before.

The pain that she felt was like the branched thorns pierced brutally in every inch of her body. Afterward, the spines branched withdrawn slowly, and it continues to repeat itself. Thus leaving the pain that made her wish the death would soon take her.

In the end, the last breath had left her, her heart stops beating. The light of life slowly left Kagome's eyes. Sesshoumaru stared at the lifeless body, he narrowed his eyes, the pale green dwarf creatures swarming around her. They tried to bring her soul into Yomi, the underworld.

Sesshoumaru could feel the pulse from Tenseiga, he stared at his sword for a moment then walked closer. The pulse is getting stronger as he steps closer to the woman's body. His sword is screaming and begging to be used. All the kinds of questions with the first word 'Why' filling his head. Somehow, Sesshoumaru couldn't resist the urge, curiosity had mastered him.

There is only one way for Sesshoumaru to find out the answer he was looking for. The Dai youkai had decided what he would do. The sound of metal rubbing against scabbard is heard, Sesshoumaru unsheathing his sword. The sword that could save thousands of lives with one swing outstretched over the corpse, by one swing he slashes the creatures of the underworld.

With Tenseiga, he restores her life.

The darkness welcomed her, pitch-dark, and desolate. In the void, questions are gripped her mind. Is this hell? Couldn't she join her mother in a better place? Even in death, why there is no happiness for her? Whether in the afterlife also had the different places for humans, Hanyou and youkai? If she can't get together with her mother in the hereafter, what should she expect? Excruciating eternity in the mortal world or forever lost in the cold void like this?

Suddenly, she was enveloped by a blinding white light. Again she drowned, but not in the dark. This time, she is immersed in the warm white light. In strange ways, the light made her feel a tiny drop of happiness that she longed for. Slowly but sure, Kagome's chest moving gently up and down with every breath that she takes.

Sesshomaru holstered his sword before he turned to walk away.

She is still not fully conscious, but the severe injuries on her body starts to recover. No residual toxins that contaminate the hanyou's body, her weak heartbeat start to sound, the blood began to flow through her body. Her eyes opened slowly, Kagome's vision is still hazy. The scintillation light of life had returned to her eyes, although both of her grayish-blue orbs still emits by fear.

Kagome's face was very pale as if there was not one drop of blood was flowing under her skin. The smell of blood from her enemy, made she recall what had happened. Kagome touched her stomach, there is no more flesh which corrupted by the poisons, flowing blood, or a gaping hole. Sometime later, her vision returned to normal, triangle ears on top of her head twitched towards the voice of the trampled leaves. She cocked her head to look at the youkai who went away.

"Wait!" she wanted to scream, but the sound that comes out of her mouth was only a whisper. "Did I just die?" she asked, more to herself.

His long silver hair and mokomoko in his right shoulder played by the summer breeze. Sesshoumaru paused a moment but did not look back before continuing his steps. Kagome sure that the youkai could hear her clearly even though her voice just a whisper, she knew he was just choosing to ignore her.

Everything is too weird for her, Kagome could sniff the smell of his sword over her body? And the strangest part is, that she was sure she had just died after the fatal wound, but what he did to her? Did he save her? No, not save her, but resurrect her. If that's true, is he a Kami who gave her one more chance to live?

 _No, he's not a Kami, definitely! The smell of inu youkai pierced her nostril, proof that he is just a youkai, nothing more. But his smell, there is something strange with his distinctive smell._ She sighed heavily when she thought about her second chances of life. _I'm alive!_ Indecision pervaded her heart, the grayish-blue orbs covered by the emptiness. Another force takes over Kagome when she blinks. In a flash, her vacillation has vanished, her fear has gone. Kagome's mind had shifted as the sun has skidded to the west side of the horizon.

The wind whispered, thick clouds in various form drove slowly in the beautiful blue sky. Kagome couldn't see the beauty of nature when her head covered by the fog of hatred to herself, the desire for revenge, and an endless anger undermined every inch her heart. The wonderful world that lay before her only a battleground for Kagome, a place where the injustice entrenched. A perfect place to breeding of greed and hatred. The world where she lives will never stop decorated with fight after fight.

She took a deep breath to keep the smell of youkai who had just helped her into her memory fixedly. Kagome's strength is slowly filling her body. A bitterly laughed slipped out of her mouth as she stood up. Once again, she had to face the cold world that embraces her. The devilish smile on her face made two fangs appeared when she thought of her Savior.

 _He would regret having helped me because he is the next target!_

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E/N: This fic has been completed and will be updated once in two weeks (hopefully). So, if anyone willing to be a beta for this story and help my grammar please let me know in a review or PM. I'm sorry for any shortcomings, and thanks.

Minna saiko arigatou.


	2. The Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi-sensei!

Warnings : Character death.

* * *

~Flashback~

12-year-old Kagome was lying in a meadow, her big grayish-blue eyes looked at the blue sky, melodious sound of bird song accompanied her. It's her favorite place, not too far from where she lives, quite hidden because it is located on between two hills. There are hundreds of blooming flowers around her, sweet fragrance caressing her nostrils. The meadow full of flowers, shaded by the blue summer sky without clouds, one word that can describe the scene in front of her, beautiful.

The wildflowers that she collected on that day was more beautiful than usual, consists of several colors and shapes. She lifted her favorite, the little white flower, Jasmine. She put those small white flowers in her sleeves, so her scents could resemble her mother's scents. For her, Jasmine's fragrance much like her mother's scents, and the scents always reminds her of the warmth of love that her mother's gave.

Sometime later Kagome half running towards her house, she was whistling cheerfully. Her right hand is full of firewood, while the left clutching a bunch of flowers. The ball of fire in the sky has reached its peak, the heat of the sun has begun oppressive when Kagome arrived at the kitchen garden located in the courtyard of her house.

The young hanyou knew that she was late coming home for lunch, but she also knew that the older woman wouldn't get angry if her mother knew that she paused to enjoy the beauty of nature. Her mother would only put on a sad or worried face, but didn't scold Kagome. She would apologize to her mother, the miko would smile, forgive her, then gave her a warm hug. Always like that, a pattern that repeats. Her mother was never angry with her, never.

Kagome stops when she was only a few steps away from the doorway, she could sense that there's something wrong. The atmosphere is too quiet, no figure of the woman who dressed as a miko waiting for her in front of the house with a worried face as usual when she's late. She brushed off the bad feeling that surrounded her then continued to walk.

"Okaa-San..." she called with melodious sound.

Her cheerfulness vanished without a trace, the dog ears on top of her head stiffens. For a moment she froze in the doorway before she goes into the hut. There was no response from her mother, there was just the sound of wrenching moans from inside of the house.

"OKAA-SAN!" she shouted in panic, then she ran into the hut. Her panic gets worse when the smell of blood invades her senses of smell. Then, what she saw will never be forgotten for the rest of her life. Kagome found her mother lying on the floor and covered in blood, her kimono torn apart in such a way.

She slowly approached and knelt beside her mother, the miko named Kikyo. What caught her attention is the flowing blood from the five holes in her neck. With her shaking hands, she grasped her mother's hand, then she put it on her cheek. Her mother's hand no longer warms, that little fact made her heart sinking into the sorrow. She looked at her mother's pale face intently, sadness, pain, and despairs were written on it.

They stare each other with a poignant gaze. The tears rolling down on Kikyo's cheeks, her breath wheezing. She was fighting desperately to cram the air into her lungs. Her face contorted with grief as she stared at her daughter's grayish-blue orbs.

There was nothing more tortured her than to see her daughter's sad face, not even the pain that she felt at that moment. What's the most she feared was not the death itself, but to leave her daughter alone. She didn't want her daughter to suffer, all that she wanted was her happiness. Kikyo's lips trembled when her mouth open as if she wanted to say something.

The young girl wasn't sure what she should do but waiting for her to say something. There's nothing Kagome could do, her mother's injuries were fatal. She finds it hard to breathe, her chest feels very heavy as if there is a big rock breaking through it. Kagome shall lose what won't return, forever. Her breath caught in her throat, only one word that comes out of her "Kaa-San..."

Kikyo laboriously tried to smile, she tried to calm her loved ones, even though she knew it would be futile. Her heart's crying in vain, there is nothing more depressing for Kikyo than to see Kagome's grieving face when she's dying. Kikyo will leave this world with tormented, thinking of her beloved will be all alone, in a world where youkai and humans resent her. Her daughter will be hunted, and the worst part is, she can no longer protect her.

"Kago.." She coughed, it made more blood oozing from the holes in her neck. There was a whistling sound every time the miko tried to draw a breath, "Ka-kagome please .." her voice stammering, she struggles to get the words out of her mouth.

Kagome's eyes began to sting "Okaa-san .." she begged.

"Stay, a-live, be ha-ppy, I..." Kikyo's sentence not finished as the last breath has been exhaled, her heart no longer beating, her time in the world had run out.

The girl was very shocked, her hands fall to her side, limp. "KAA-SAN!" Kagome called in despair, tears profusely left her eyes. She embraces her mother's body, her own body shaken by the cries that unheard by anyone.

"Please don't leave me alone Okaa-san..." her voice trembled. Kagome pulled away to look at her mother's face, then stroked it very gently. She whispered in her mother's ear, "Wake up..." she paused "Please, please, please" her voice getting hoarse. Her hands grabbed her mother's haori tightly, then Kagome shook her body.

She knew it's meaningless, the beloved miko's soul had departed from her body. The woman in Kagome's embraces wasn't her mother, she's nothing but an empty shell, dried without life, cold without the warmth of love. She wiped the blood that adorns her mother's face which begins to thicken and dry up in some places. "Wake up." the tears still flowed freely, she looked at the pale face.

She sobbed, then pulled away slightly, Kagome closed her eyes. She refused to see her mother's face, she shook her head to deny reality. "Kaa-San..." she keeps calling her mother repeatedly.

No answer. She got up and sat, silently looking at her mother's body

How do I live without you? You're the only one who loved me. Why did you go so soon? Why don't you take me with you? I want to always be with you. I love you so much, how could you ask me to stay alive when you, my breath has been taken from me? How can you ask me to be happy if my happiness is you? Why are you so cruel to me Okaa-san? You left me...

"Kaa-San.." Kagome shouted "Wake up!" she no longer able to refrain, she hugged her mother "I beg you..." she sobbed, the young girl was choked with the tears that did not subside.

Her head rested on her mother's chest. Kagome's heart getting shrinked when she realized that there was no more heartbeat could be heard, the rhythm that has always been her lullaby. No longer a warm hug her mother gave to her, no longer a loving smile for her. The sweet smell like jasmine flowers and tea of her mother will be missed, as well as her soothing words. Kagome would miss all of her. She raised her head, her mother's eyes still open, but the two hazel orbs were looked so empty, cold, and die...

Having tired of crying, for some time she froze as she hugged her mother's body. There is no power that resides in her body. There is no spirit of life left in her, but her mother needs a decent funeral. Hence, Kagome forcing her body to move. First of all, she had to clean the bodies. Kagome muster up courage to staring at the wound yet the pool of blood made she couldn't help to look away. She did not want to see those wounds, she did not want to imagine the pain that it caused.

Kagome grimaced, forbear from crying again. She closed her eyes, then took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It's not the calm feeling which she gained, but the rage burned within her. Her eyes were fatigued from crying, her heart had been dying from grief. The strongest emotion taking over, all of her misery had been replaced by the wrath. All the bad things she had experienced since she was little, the harsh reality of what she really is, and the hell that she must through right now is also brought by destiny. How can she not hate the fate?

Without thinking Kagome run away into the woods, although she didn't have a purpose, what she knew was to follow her footsteps. Her inhuman speed increasing when the tears force its way out of her eyes. She stopped at the edge of a river, her chest moved up and down. An enormous rock by the river become the target of her fury. She desperately tries to dismember the innocent rock by her deadly talons. Nevertheless, the rock is not easily destroyed. There is no pain that she felt even though the blood starts flowing out of her fingers, she didn't stop until it's crushed into strewn gravel.

If only the pain in her hand could replace the pain in her heart.

She fell on the banks of the river, her kimono is wet, water licking the wounds in her hands. She wanted to cry, but this time she could not. Kagome bowed, looking at her reflection in the river. Her gray blue eyes enveloped by the fear and sadness. Ears atop her head pinned to the head, she looked at her claw hands, then dipped it into the river. The coldness of the water just soothing her hand, but not her soul. She raised her hand and see the laceration slowly begin to dry and then close completely until no traces at all, the gift that she condemned.

Nevertheless, she remembered her mother's last words. The message to be happy, to stay alive. A request which she can't fulfill. How could she be happy when the last memory of her mother's is her slow and painful death? How cruel people who did this to her. He or she, whoever it was let her mother bled to death. Again her memory was torturing her, and it made the anger and resentment residing in her mind.

Kagome closed her eyes, for a moment she was like a lifeless before something took over her body. Her eyes were open, she was looking at her reflection in the river. Her gaze turned cold and sharp as her hands clenched tightly, the claws pierce the skin and penetrate the flesh in her palm. Blood flowed freely from her hand, then dripped into the river.

The drops of blood that fell into the river break up the reflection of Kagome's face, it made her snapped out of reverie. She's staring at her bloody hands, she is really conscious of its power. She's not 'the meek Kagome' anymore, the power that she had been regarded as a curse has become a blessing. The sharp claws, sharp eyesight, sensitive sense of smell, and all the inhuman strength that she had she could use to her new purpose in life. The revenge. She must avenge anyone who had killed her mother cruelly. No matter what happens, even if her life is at stake.

In the past, she's always scared to see her own reflection because all she saw was a beast. All that she wanted just to be like her mother, human, flawless, and gentle. But not anymore, she is grateful for what she is and the power that she had. Not her fault if she is a Hanyou, neither her fault if her mother was a Miko who fell in love with a youkai. It was the villagers' fault who drove them out of the village. It was the youkai's fault who take her existence as an abomination. For them, whether the human or the youkai, the Hanyou was just an aberration.

She got up, ran back to her house to give her last respects to her mother. She stopped for a moment in front of the small hut, she swallowed hard before continuing to walk, she tried to suppress her emotions and let logic taking over. The young hanyou sniffed, there were no scents from the bastard left behind. Kagome eyes probing, examining the ravaged rooms, the evidence of her final resistance. Both corners of her mouth slightly up, proud of her mother who will never give up easily. Her thoughts turned to the clue that she had to find, no matter how small it is. But before that, she had another obligation to fulfilled.

She unfurled a blanket beside the fireplace in the front room, side by side with a small cloth and a basin. Without an effort she carried her mother, slowly and carefully, she cleansed the wounds with a small cloth dampened with water. She cringed every time her eyes caught the injuries in her mother's body, bruises, and cuts that still draw blood.

Overcast is hanging in Kagome's face, her eyebrows getting furrowed in the middle every time the fabric touched the wounds. Very gently she patted the cloth as if not wanting to hurt her mother furthermore. She wiped her arms alternately, right then left. Her breath caught as she realized there was something in the palm. There are several strands of long silver hair, just like his father!

Is the hair belonged to her father? Is he the one who had killed her mother? The hair's the only clue that could bring her to the bastard who will die in her hands, and the death will be slow and painful, she'd promised it. Kagome immediately put the hair in a small folded piece of cloth and then store it in the sleeve of her kimono. She will keep it carefully, a small piece of evidence to pursue the killer, although she had to go to the end of the world.

As a final tribute, she had put the clean Miko's garb on her mother. She slipped her left hand under her mother's neck and with her right hand, she lifted the lower body. Without efforts, Kagome stood up, then walk out. Along the way, she looked at her mother's face. Though she's not smiling, her mother's face looked peaceful, and it made the pain in her heart was slightly reduced.

She put her mother carefully in a six-foot hole. After a while, the body had been covered with soil from the neck down. She gave her mother last kiss on the forehead before the soil covered her entire body. A small smile appeared on Kagome's face, at least no more sorrow, distress, and pain for her mother. There will only be peace for her in the afterlife.

"I-I love you so much Okaa-San..." her words faltered. Kagome put some flowers which she had learned that morning on the new mound, then she pressed sacred sutras onto a tombstone to prevent any youkai eat the bodies. "Wait for me" she whispered softly in a broken voice.

Even though it would be difficult, she just wants to remember the good times. She couldn't live in a place that will always bring the shadow of her mother's death. All the good things she had ever expected to happen in her life have been buried along with her mother. After all, she will not be able to occupy the house full of memories, so she burned it.

Kagome stood tense, her eyes were empty when she watched the fire licked their little hut, black smoke billowing into the sky. Her dreams flown with the ashes. The embers were splashed in an instant before vanishing, just like her hopes. The sound of creaking wood engulfed by the fire, like the sounds of her broken soul. The dark charcoal left over from combustion is the depiction of her jet black heart. Red of the flames and black of the smoke symbolizes a way of life that must be taken by the hanyou Kagome, the life which full of hatred and the bloodshed.

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E/N: Sorry for the late update, I still have no beta yet (though I would love to have one) so I apologize if my grammars killing you.


	3. Alter Ego

Disclaimer: I do own nothing.

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Unlike humans, for youkai, the territory of Japan long before the feudal era was divided into four parts; The Northern Region and the Eastern Region are dominated by the ookami youkai. And the inu youkai controlling the Southern and Western Territories.

The duty of the lord of the regions is to regulate all youkai who live within their jurisdiction, whether youkai middle class or mononoke which no smarter than savage animals. However, wildness is the youkai's natural instincts, that's why they need a leader who can prevent them from the futile wars that will only lead them to the destruction of their own race.

Not only youkai, some Lords also supervised many human villages. In the southern region controlled by Takigawa, and the West led by Touga or Inu no Taisho, youkai and humans live side by side in peace. The Dai youkai ruled fairly, both for humans and for youkai.

Under the rule of Takigawa and Touga, there will be no youkai attacking blindly the villages they protect, and vice versa, there will be no youkai been attacked by the owners of spiritual abilities such as hoshi or miko for no good reason. In fact, clashes between human clans also rarely occur within the sphere of territory they protect because the Daimyo or the clan leaders obey them both.

Although it cannot be said that there is a very good relationship between the four, the Lord of the regions always respects each other. Beyond anyone's expectations, with the great power that they had, there are only a few minor incidents that had happened in their territorial boundaries that will not have a major effect on both sides.

For centuries, there was no direct clash between the four lords. However, the time had rolled, and the power had to shift. The split between the lords of the region began to emerge after the deaths of the lord of the Northern and the Eastern Regions. Their almost simultaneous deaths are the cause of the tension between their successors, Tokushin and Kuroichi. Fortunately, such circumstances did not last long, Inu no Taisho quickly suppress the turmoil that exists. In order to calm the situation, he bound the other three with an agreement. Agreements that make regional rulers do not disturb one another.

The situation was under control, but the peace only lasted for a moment. Inu no Taisho, the originator of peace, has breathed his last. With that, the power falls to the only son he has, Sesshoumaru.

Takigawa shy away from what was happening to the East and the North. Tokushin and Kuroichi underestimated the leadership of Sesshoumaru, therefore, the atmosphere of the East and North increasingly heated up. Starting from a small incident on the border, the feuds broke out. A strong desire for power began to dominate them, with bluntly, they reveal themselves as rivals. And now, the covenant is forgotten, and the old unwritten rule is upheld by the four Dai youkai, the ancient rules of who is the strongest who will survive and be the ultimate conqueror.

Anyone who can defeat the other lord of the region, in the sense of killing him, of course, will expand his territory, and increase his strength. And the old, almost forgotten facts make the situation worse, though for thousands of years the ruler of the region and the owner of the chosen sword are inherited from generation to generation, but in reality, the real ruler of the region is only seen from the ownership of the four legendary swords.

Therefore, the weapons that had the great power are contested. The four swords which became the containers where the strength of the predecessors gathered were; Makaze, the evil wind from the North. Akaiittou is also nicknamed the red sword of the East. Yoarashi, the black thunder from the South. And the last but not least is Tenseiga, the heaven sword of the West.

Despite not wanting to waste an opportunity, the Dai youkai really took their time. The four are thinking carefully about the best tactics to defeat the opponents. And, as their heads are busy strategizing, the stupid small fries keep coming after their sword.

The news about the schism of the Dai youkai certainly aroused the interest of anyone who heard it. They who smart enough to understand whom they challenge is not only the lord of the region, but also the accumulation of the powers of the former rulers, just sit back and watch the progress. While the rest, those with a little skill, but a lot of arrogance, one by one came to seize one of the four swords.

The challengers who come only leave a name. Certainly, the news shrank the guts of anyone who heard it. The longer the number of challengers becomes conical before they disappear altogether. However, that fact does not diminish the guts of a certain hanyou-woman who lives by the fire of revenge within her chest.

That afternoon, along with Kagome who walked with a shaky step and head bowed, the forest was silent. With one light jump, she moved to the nearest tree. Almost on the highest branch, she leaned her tired body and closed her eyes. Time had stretched after her final battle with Kuroichi, her body almost completely recovered.

Kagome opened her eyes, a pair of grayish-blue peering at the shadows of twilight. Her right hand crawled to her left chest, for a moment she perceived every heartbeat. Still hurt. But, the pain that she felt was not because of the physical injuries.

Her courage and determination seemed to sink with the sun on the western horizon. No more Kagome the tough hanyou, there is only fragile Kagome whose heart, body, and soul have been gnawed by the despair. Her mission was exhausting, and again, she was swayed in uncertainty. After all, the only certainty available to her and to all living beings on earth is just one thing: the certainty of death.

Yes, the death. The death that just came to her! And after the death that she went through, all she felt on the inside was the very stifling void. All the time, the driving force of her body is the vengeance and anger. Although the two negative feelings she nurtures are increasingly destructive, at least, her life was not empty. That's what she thoughts, the only justification for what she had done so far.

However, for some reason, after she rose from the dead, the fire of revenge in her soul was slightly extinguished. Replace with self-loathing, her desire to tear the throats of her enemies faded. She's sick of being a killing machine, and what's most nauseating to Kagome is to be what humans accuse her of, a monster.

A monster, a nickname that suited her. She had no gratitude to all the Kamis who has created her, and no thanks to youkai who has given her a second chance of life. Not that she hopes the death came to her soon, at least, not now! Unlike her a few years ago, with all the uncertainty surrounding her at this moment, she did not want to die, not until she was certain that her mission accomplished.

And after her mission has been achieved? Kagome could not answer that.

If someday, an irresistible death comes to pick her up, is there anyone who will miss her? Is there someone who will grieve for her? She knows the answer with certainty, not a single drop of tears that fell because of her death. After all, she's just an aberration. She is like a fly between the butterflies. No matter where she was, there was no place for her, neither among humans nor among the youkai.

She is just a mockery of the Kamis who lack the entertainment to watch.

With both eyes still closed, Kagome stretched her legs on the tree branch, then crossed her arms over her chest. Her stomach has already protested, but she is still too weak to look for fruit or hunting small animals. Even for her body, Kuroichi's poison is too strong. If it had not been for her helper yesterday, surely, she would have died. Remembering the mysterious youkai, one thing that Kagome believes, he is one of the Lord of the region.

The flow of thoughts brings Kagome back to remember the beginning of her hunt. Tokushin, the Lord of the Northern region was her first target. Her first search_two years ago_was not easy, the distance traveled was also not close. She spent months before successfully meeting Tokushin. Initially, her quest was a suicide mission, a small hanyou challenged the Lord of the North only armed with guts.

The first journey had taught her the hard way. Along the way, countless youkai were trying to eat her, kill her just for fun, and there are even some who try to rape her. But that was the way she had to go through. And with that, she also learned how to fight and survive. An expensive exercise that risked her life.

With all the experience as a teacher, she had gained a natural fighting way. Now she knows how to quickly read the fight, how to find enemy weaknesses, and gave a fatal attack to immobilize the opponent in an instant. The claws, fangs, speed, power, her sensitive hearing, and her super sense of smell, all the things that she initially regarded as a curse now became a gift. All the advantages that Kagome possess, she uses for one core purpose, survives and vengeance.

Not a few powerful youkai she met on the trip, and not infrequently she was dying after a battle. Cracked or broken limbs, puncture wounds, and various types of injuries had been obtained by her. In severe conditions, she would hide for days or even weeks to recover her body at where she considers safe. To fill her stomach at the time, Kagome will eat anything is around, even if it's only the leaves, raw fruits, or the poor little animal that accidentally passing nearby. Basically, she would eat anything within her reach.

After her body recovered, she went on her way. A fortune for her, meeting the Dai youkai is not as difficult as meeting the Daimyo from human circles; there is no guard for the Dai youkai because they are the guardian of the territory. Due to the unwritten invalidity, anyone can challenge the Lord of the region. It means any Dai youkai who becomes the Lord of the region should be ready to serve an almost endless battle. And for the challenger itself, his or her life is the absolute requirement at stake, there will be no balanced outcome or second chance. There is only one result: The victory, or the death.

Respected and feared, by humans as well as youkai is not the only advantage. For some souls, having the title as the Lord of the region also gives pride that more valuable than the life itself.

In Kagome's life, there is no black nor white, no pure evil or the good, only gray. There is no single thing in the world is really good or really bad, they become vague. Because wherever she stood has always been the same, a battleground, a place for the blood spilled. Had the fight been part of nature, then everything she had done was on the right track.

Undoubtedly, pursuing a devil for vengeance made her bathed in the blood of the demons that she had slaughtered. Over time, she will become the devil herself. The cursed creature who always brings misery to whomever she encounters in her life. Besides, what could she expect from her life other than take revenge?

Until now she can not answer it, she did not dare to hope anything other than a quick and painless death when her end had arrived. Perhaps it's the only purpose in life that makes sense to her, as reasonable as waiting the dawn to break.

The reddish orange line at the edge of the sky was gone, the night blankets had stretched, the stars appeared, and the darkness enveloped. In the midst of a piercing silence, the fragility begins to dominate. The fragments of her soul that she attaches during the day are now scattered into pieces of dust that will be blown by the whispers of the wind. The emptiness of the night was so excruciating, the despair of an uncertain life increasingly killing her slowly.

"I'm alive."

Silence.

"I'm strong, I do not need anyone," Kagome whispered the words to herself over, and over again.

"You're alive," the soft voice of a small child suddenly sounded.

Kagome was not surprised at all, she was accustomed to the sudden appearance of her best friend. In the painful years she had spent in the solitude, the sky became her roof, the forest became her home, the tree became her bed, the whistling wind became the accompanying music in the loneliness. Five years of life in the struggle, only one friend she had, a friend she never expected to get. An odd friend to her who is no less bizarre. Kanna, a small youkai who had no aura, or smell, appeared on a tree branch opposite her. With a blank look, the white figure was watching carefully a small round mirror with the silver edge.

"Half alive," Kagome added.

Suddenly the white-haired youkai lifted her head and looked at Kagome intently for a moment before turning to look at her mirror again. Some time passed in comfortable silence. Not much can be said of their friendship, both are more often seated and immersed in their own thoughts. Even so, occasionally they also have a short conversation full of meaning.

"Revenge will not bring happiness," Kanna's voice was so low, it was almost a whisper.

"Too late."

"Not yet," her dangling legs swinging.

"If that's true," Kagome added. "It's too far for me to stop." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _'And it's too hard for me to forget,'_ her jaw hardened at once. "Not after I've met who's left, and then I can grant her last wish." For an instant, Kagome remembered her mother's last request, a memory that made her chest feel hurt.

Different from the topic being discussed, Kanna said, "the sword has been ... broken."

Her friend's words made Kagome out of her reverie, she understood what Kanna meant was Makaze. Oh, yes, she didn't forget that her best friend knows about certain things, and there is no doubt about the truth. The dark-haired hanyou said, "I'll finish what I started," she added confidently, "with or without a sword."

Kagome has promised herself. No matter who he is, she will not stop hunting him. No matter how, the grudge must be avenged. Until the promise is fulfilled, there will be no peace for her.

"You'll get more than that," Kanna said in a monotone voice.

Hearing that, Kagome looked at her friend with a questioning look. "Is that about the sword?"

"Immediately," continued the little youkai.

 _'Another mystery to solve,'_ Kagome thought. Somehow, she felt that Kanna's words were like a riddle and a hint at the same time. Even so, she did not mind. After all, she had long understood that her life was simply a shift; From one puzzle to another. From a battle to a war. From distress to misery. It's like an endless pattern that will be repeated constantly. Thinking deeply about it only triggered a whirlwind inside her head.

She really wanted to ask, how did Kanna know about it? Of course, from her mirror. From Kanna and her mirror, Kagome learned that her mother's killer was a Dai youkai who controlled one of the regions and Kanna also told her that she would meet her father in the journey. But, which region? Can't she say one definite region? And then, why does not the mirror tell everything at once? For example, who is her father really? Or who's her mother's murderer? Behind what her best friend had said, why did Kanna look like she was hiding something? Something bigger, which Kagome probably did not want to know.

However, five years is more than enough for Kagome to know her only friend. The question is not useful, Kanna will not speak without her will and her ability. All she has to do now is keep looking for the next target, and the next target has been locked. The mysterious youkai who had helped her.

When Kagome did not expect that his friend would speak again, "West," Kanna said with her subtle voice.

Kagome grinned, revealing her two fangs. "At dawn, I'll head West."

"Who helps you is the Western Lord," Kanna's index finger moved very slowly at the edge of her mirror frame

"Next target," Kagome said nonchalantly.

"He's very strong, do not underestimate him."

Kagome's grin faded. "No, I never underestimated my enemies." Only two remains.

"He's heading south."

The next sentences from Kagome became the end of their conversation that night. "Well then, with one paddle two islands will be exceeded. I will find the Western and Southern Lords in one place." Contrary to the words that came out of her mouth, little doubt slipped out in her mind. The doubt that comes from the fragility that has long been locked. The part of her that is hidden in a small rusty corner of the heart.

She will return to the area where memories of love and misery come from.

However, the fragility that only emerges for a moment is not enough to stop her. She remains the hanyou Kagome, the courage is her breath, the determination is her core to live, the toughness is her other name. Nothing else could hurt her, because of Kagome, no longer have something worth to mourning.

Kagome closed her eyes, to get rid of the heart-wrenching memory of hers, she focused her attention on the distant owl's voice, the friction of the soil and the rock as the snake crawled below her, the swirling night breeze, or on anything which can divert her mind and bring her into the dream world.

However, no matter in the real world or the other, the peace that she achieved was only a blink of an eye. Bad memories always succeeded storming in, even her subconscious was raped by the sorrow.

On the other hand, Kanna seemed fascinated by her own reflection. However, not the reflection of herself that she saw, but the unexpected future that awaits for her hanyou friend. Her dangling feet began to sway slowly, and suddenly, a scarcity occurred, though for only a second, a thin smile was sculpted on her face.

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Notes: I'm really sorry for the long wait, but I won't abandon this story. From now on, I'll try to post a chapter once in a month.


	4. A Deviation

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha!

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The sun shone brightly, its light penetrating from the sidelines of the leaves. Sesshoumaru walked between the woods of the Southern Territories, his last destination. He could have flown through the clouds, but, besides carrying a conquest mission, he was also on a quest mission. Sesshoumaru is looking for a sacred object hidden by his father. And the thing he was looking for hidden somewhere in the South.

Sometime later, he could hear the faint murmur of a woman's voice and the sound of splashing water in the distance. Sesshoumaru doubted the sound he heard coming from a human being because, he is in the deepest forest, away from the human-inhabited areas.

The closer he walked to the water source the more he recognized the scent. While he suppressed his aura, he could hear the woman mumbling something. Sesshoumaru was not surprised to find his guess was true. His sense of smell is never wrong after all, the woman he sees now is the woman who killed Kuroichi, a hanyou who revived by Tenseiga. Still, very clear in his memory, a layer of blue light illuminated Tenseiga as he used it.

 _'She wasted no time, after Kuroichi, now she's targeting Takigawa, the Southern Lord,'_ thought Sesshoumaru.

.

Kagome was on her way as she passed a small hot spring. The pool was so beautiful, some big rocks surrounded it, a thin layer of smoke billowing on the surface, the pool was so clear that she could see the rocks at the bottom. The natural hot water seemed to call her to rest for a moment and relax her stiff muscles. Kagome's right foot was already stepping but then stopped, for a moment she stood in her place.

"Soaking in a hot spring won't make the sun rise from the West, will it?" She told herself.

Kagome approached the hot spring, she opened her blue kimono before dipping her foot into the water. She concentrated to check her surroundings for a moment, was there an aura of youkai or the smell of another human being around her? Once she's sure there were no dangers lurking then, she took off all her clothes, and then draped it on the nearest stone by the pool.

Kagome sat by the pool and dipped the tips of her toes slowly. She whimpered softly as she felt the warmth of the water massaging her slightly tired feet after running all day. Then she went into the water, walked into the middle of the pool and began to wash her body. She moaned as she moistened her now-loose hair. Finished cleaning the body, she shifted to the edge of the pool which water reaches only to the waist.

Kagome sits on the small rocks at the edge of the pond, now the water above her chest. She leaned her head back and looked up at the thick white clouds in the blue sky. Her arms outstretched, she kept drawing the circle on the surface of the water with the tips of her fingers. Kagome closed her eyes and enjoyed the very rare peace she got.

Sesshoumaru kept walking closer before stopping a few feet from the pool. He saw the woman's head resting on a rock, her long black hair created a beautiful halo around her face. Sesshoumaru's attention drawn to her peaceful face, her eyes closed, her skin looks so soft, and then his focus shifts to another beauty on her rising chest. The water and thin smoke cannot hide the other beauty of her body from the vision of a Dai youkai like Sesshoumaru.

What Sesshoumaru saw in the hanyou was a stark contrast to what he saw first; her face softened, her smile broadening, her blue eyes now shone with warmth, her cheeks flushed, her full lips now pink. Among the hot spring surrounded by green lawns, shady trees covered with soft sunlight, she was the culmination of the natural beauty that surrounds it. Her figure looks so weak, but beautiful nonetheless.

"Damn it!" Kagome gasped when she realizes that someone is nearby.

Kagome cursed herself for her carelessness and for not being able to smell the intruder's arrival. She wonders, is her sense of smell starting to dull? Or maybe she too carried away in a peaceful atmosphere so her vigilance loosened and could not detect his aura? Kagome takes a sniff, a moment later, she knows that the answer is the latter.

With a glance, Kagome could recognize the intruders. He is the youkai who had helped her, who was also her next target. One thing she noted, he managed to conceal his aura well. Not just well, but it's good, too good until it feels scary!

Kagome immerses herself in the water to hide her naked body with her arms crossed on top of her chest. However, she is a woman, and the youkai who is just a few steps away from her is the opposite sex.

Anyway, what is he doing here? And the main question is why the man did not go away when there is a naked woman in the pond! What he did was simply turn his gaze into the middle of the hot spring indifferently.

Kagome gives him a menacing look, but Sesshoumaru unaffected. Slowly he approached the hot spring. Kagome growled and jumped out of the pool. She hid behind a rock where her clothes draped. Unfortunately, the stone is only covering half of her body. With her back facing the intruder, she wore her kosode, kimono, and tied her obi quickly.

Sesshoumaru watched as the woman hurried out of the water and scooped up her clothes, and then jumped behind a stone that failed to cover her upper body. Although her face looks young, her body has the perfect curve of the adult woman that all males want.

Kagome's back was hot with his gaze, her face flushed, but she was trying to conceal her embarrassment. After she finished dressing, Kagome jumps closer to Sesshoumaru. Her chin lifted, "You, what are you doing here?" Instead of answering, the man looked away.

Her blushing cheeks did not escape from Sesshoumaru's eyes, the pink hue spread to her neck, and disappeared behind her kimono. The kimono she wore was incapable of covering her slim waist, and the length of the clothes was incapable of covering her beautiful thighs and legs.

Without responding, the man continued to approach the pond.

 _Shit!_ "You just ruined my most private time, seeing my body, and now you're ignoring me?" Her tone irritated. Kagome's face flushed with embarrassment and anger when the man she was talking to decide to leave. "Wait, I want to talk to you," Kagome said as she sped up the pace.

Sesshoumaru stopped right at the edge of the hot spring. He pulled Tenseiga which still in its holster, holding it right in the middle horizontally, and then stretched out his hand. After a few seconds passed without any reaction from the sword, he slipped the item back into his obi.

What he was looking for was not in that little hot spring. Sesshoumaru convinced that the sword was dwelling somewhere close to the water source. However, based on the leads that he holds, that pool is not included in the criteria: A place where the three waves meet. There is no kekkai that protects the place, the item was not hidden there.

This time, he did not think his actions through. What distracted him at the time? Is the woman's voice? Her body? Or, her smell? Indeed, without tainted by the smell of her opponent's blood the way it once was, her scents were so tempting.

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath silently, trying to shake off the thoughts he considered ludicrous. Without feeling the need to stare at the figure who became his interlocutor at the time, he orders, "Speak!"

Kagome stammered without knowing why, "I-I..." She cursed mentally.

"This Sesshoumaru did not need any gratitude from you," Sesshoumaru said before turning and leave her.

Kagome grunted with annoyance. She felt foolish for being nervous in front of that mysterious youkai, so she said, "I won't thank you!" With one leap, she stood in front of the silver haired man. "Saving me was your decision, not my request," she said firmly.

The Dai youkai's intonation was flat as he said, "I'm not saving you, but reviving you."

Sesshoumaru noticed how she looked at him sharply. A grin in one corner of the face reveals her fangs. The water dripping from the ends of her loose hair to her smooth crème skin. "What do you want, Hanyou?" For a second, Sesshoumaru's eyebrows slightly wrinkled before returning to his old-expressionless-face. "Do you want me to take back what I gave you?" He asked coldly.

Kagome chuckled before throwing a question in a mocking tone, "Do you think you're a God, huh?" She who underestimated now began to feel furious. "Pull your sword!" She challenged.

Sesshoumaru unaffected, he did not even look at her and his answer was, "I'm not interested." Then, he walked away.

Again, Kagome was blocking his way. "Do not underestimate me!"

While throwing a deadly stare, the youkai said, "Get out of my sights."

Stubbornly she refused, "I will not leave until you fight me!"

"I'm just fighting a formidable enemy." With that, Sesshoumaru passed her.

"You'll regret having belittled me!" Kagome smiled cynically, she flicked her claws.

Insult detected from his straight tone, "Even with a sword you will not be able to defeat me," he said.

"I'll prove my word to you." When the last word spoken, Kagome was already jumping to attack.

Sesshoumaru's hand grasped the hilt of Bakusaiga. "I do not have much patience for you, Hanyou."

Kagome noticed he drew one of his swords. Different from the one he had used to save her, the smells of various kinds of blood wafted out from that sword. The sword in the man's grip was a sword to fight!

"You must know your place, a hanyou like you is an aberration!"

Kagome laughed dryly. "Nothing I've never heard before."

Sesshoumaru's voice volume increased, "You're not supposed to be born."

"Can I choose to be born as something else if I'll reincarnate someday?" Kagome spouted the rhetorical question with a joking tone, but both corners of her eyebrows dropped down. Her face could not cover what she really felt. "Oh, I know, one thing is certain, reborn as whatever I'll be," she shrugs, "I don't want to be a pompous ass youkai like you!"

"You should perish!" Sesshoumaru brandished his sword, then, a blue energy explosion hit Kagome and threw her backward.

Without turning around, Sesshoumaru puts the sword back in its sheath and resumes the journey. His pace was steady as he pierced the woods, but his mind was far behind where he had just left. What was the reason she is hunting down the Lord of the region? The question has not answered. Why has he not just asked? The thought rejected by Sesshoumaru, his pride is too high to show his curiosity.

'The lowly creature like her did not deserve any attention.' Sesshoumaru kept repeating that one sentence in his mind. In the past, he did not have to convince himself like that, but now things are different. The woman had cultivated her curiosity.

However, no matter how hard he tried, Sesshoumaru could not deny himself at all times. Many times the woman's face flashed in his brain. Her peaceful face as she soaked in the pool, gazing up at the sky with a smile. Her blushing cheeks, plump lips. But, what bothered him the most is her gaze. Her grayish-blue iris, so deep with mystery. Although he would not admit it, like it or not, everything about her has tickled something inside of him. Something that even Sesshoumaru cannot name it.

Sesshoumaru's steps stopped, he closed his eyes for a moment to drove the unimportant thoughts out and focused on the leads that he had to find the object he was looking for: A powerful sword hidden by his father for reasons he did not know.

The clue he got from the blacksmith who had forged the sword consisted of only one word, 'Minami'.

Over the years he has spent time with half-understand, Minami mentioned is not 'Beautiful Waves, nor Love and Beauty'. Minami is also not a woman's name. Most likely, Minami in question is 'The three Waves', or South.

When the two meanings, combined, then, he gets a brighter clue than before. Minami could mean, 'Three waves in the South'. More likely, there the sword that said more powerful than the four legendary swords is hidden.

Unfortunately, of the four areas, the South is the largest. The hiding place can be anywhere. Though Tenseiga would react when he approached the sword's location, still, it did not guarantee that he would find it easily. He needs a great fortune to find the sword quickly.

His eyebrows puckered for a moment, he cannot believe why the old man did this to him. Is not it obvious that he is the only one who deserves to possess the object and to sustain the title of the Lord. He is the only one worthy.

Though he could not find the sword yet, the Western Lord is very convinced that this is the right time for him to bear the sword that inherited by his father and control the entire territory. Nothing could stop him, if Sesshoumaru had determined, he would have found the sword. Soon.

.

Kagome was lying on the ground, the impact of the attack had snatched her consciousness. In that state, she carried away into the past. The row of trees in front of her turned into the little hut where she lived with her mother. The memory is like dancing in her head.

 _One night a few years ago, she just woke up from her sleep. As she was about to close her eyes, she heard the sound of wood creaking, momentarily silent, before the same sound came back. Soon, she heard someone whispering. The triangle ears on top of her head twitched, Kagome put on a good hearing. Then she sniffed, no danger noticed, but vaguely, she caught the funny smell from her mother._

 _"I miss you," her mother whispered. Kagome got up and sat down, and then she heard her mother laugh quietly. Soon a man's voice muttered, "Hm."_

 _Curiosity took over her. She stood up, then walked slowly, trying not to make the wooden floor creaks. Her heart beats faster each step she took. Her heart seemed to pause for a moment when she reached the doorway, from the small gap between the curtains, she could see the front room freely. The light from the furnace in the room already extinguished, but the gloom was more than enough for her eyesight._

 _She could see her mother lying on her back, besides an object like white fur, not a single thread wrapped around her body. Besides her mother, there was a man, as naked as her mother, who was lying on his side. But what drew Kagome's attention from him were the long purple-tinted lines on his arm. Unfortunately, the man's face covered with his silver strands. Considering what she saw was a dream, Kagome backed down and lay down on her futon._

Kagome opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a clear, cloudless summer sky. Now she remembered, the next morning, the smell of her mother changed a little. At that time, the typical smell of her mother slightly mixed with the smell of someone. What she saw was the reality, not a dream. And on the same day, with a smile, an angelic voice, and a soft caress on her head, her mother promised something she had never asked for, her father's return.

Her mother said, 'In a moment, we'll be together. After he finished the last important matter, we will live together. 'At that moment, there was a strong conviction in her mother's voice that made Kagome believe. After all, there is no reason for her not to believe in the woman who had given birth to her.

Since then, her mother never mentioned again about her father's arrival. Though the time went by, and the day changed, she was always waiting with a smile and hope. Her mother is a tough woman whose beliefs are too strong to shake by anything. And Kagome did not want to change that, but fate said otherwise. After a week of waiting, instead of getting together they parted ways forever.

From the moment she began to remember, until now, never once did she meet her father. Even so, the heroic story of her father is always told by her mother. Her mother also told her how they met, how her father helped her mother from danger, and how they loved each other. Her mother always tells how they're united by love, and then blessed with the greatest gift that they ever had, a daughter, that is herself.

Every day, during her mother's life, she keeps repeating the story.

Yet, her mother never told her why they had to live apart, she only explained that that was the best for her at the time. Her mother also told her that they would always love her. His father will always protect them, and all other explanations, that sometimes, are not easy to believe. Nevertheless, not once did her mother ever mention how forbidden their relationship as a miko and a youkai.

There is no happy ending in her mother's love story. There is only the destruction of faith that builds for years, torn by the cruelty of fate, trampled by misfortune until charred to dust. Her mother's fate has left the long dark shadow on the path she had to go through. As the lineage of a forbidden story, the black thread of destiny has awaited her.

Kagome still lying on the ground when she whispers the one word as if it was something taboo, "Otou-san?"

A drop of blood ran down on Kagome's cheek, with the back of the hand, the girl wiped the blood. With that, her mind of the past cut off. Kagome got up, patted her kimono, and walked back to the forest and continued her slightly delayed journey.

Kagome's focus point goes back to the figure she has just met. The attack she had received may have been just the tip of the nail of all the power that cold youkai possessed. She did not know the reason he refrained from attacking her with his full power. However, what she knows is the man is strong. Even so, she will not be afraid, she will not let go, 'surrender' will not come out of her mouth if someday they involved in a fight. She will make him regret having ruined her relaxed time, and made her kiss the ground after a good long bath.

She looked up and sniffed. The mysterious youkai's aura nor his smell, no longer detected. But Kagome was sure that one day they would meet again. And when that time comes, she would ask the same question she threw at each of her targets, 'Do you know a Miko named Kikyou?'

* * *

Thanks to all reader, especially to KyraTekak and Lara 5170.

Minna saiko arigato.


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